Grouplove lead singer and guitarist Christian Zucconi on stage at the 9:30 Club in D.C. performing for USA TODAY's StudioA. / Kaveh Rezaei, USA TODAY

by Korina Lopez, USA TODAY, USATODAY

by Korina Lopez, USA TODAY, USATODAY

(The performance video is no longer available. Time ran out. But you can still see the interview below.)

Getting Grouplove together was a global effort.

In New York City, keyboardist Hannah Hooper met lead singer Christian Zucconi during one of his shows, fell in love and flew to Greece, where they lived in an artists' colony on the island of Crete. Guitarist Andrew Wessen and his childhood friend, drummer Ryan Rabin, came from California. And bassist Sean Gadd landed by way of London.

They soon found themselves playing music together, until they all returned to their hometowns nearly a year later. Each resumed normal lives. About a year after they'd left Greece, Gadd came to visit Hooper and Zucconi in New York. On a whim, they all decided to head over to California to meet up with Wessen and Rubin.

"We were partying over at Andrew's house in Venice and Sean started playing the song Chloe," says Zucconi. "Ryan's ears pricked up and he suggested we meet up in his studio the next day. We started recording and it just felt so organic. What makes us work is that we were friends first, before we were a band."

Since releasing debut album Never Trust a Happy Song in 2011, Grouplove has been building buzz. Tongue Tied, featured in an iPod Touch commercial, was a top 10 song on USA TODAY's alternative airplay chart, as were with Colours and Itchin' on a Photograph. New song Everyone's Gonna Get High has been featured on HBO's hit series Girls. The band's fall tour was sold out, and at last summer's Firefly Festival in Dover, Del., several performers told USA TODAY that Grouplove was the band they were looking forward to seeing the most.

Hooper, a painter by trade, had never sung in a band before, but since overcoming her initial stage fright has become one of the most energetic, outgoing members. Her artistic vision is behind the elaborate stage setups and, as the only girl of the group, she's acclimated well to touring life. "I do miss real bathrooms, though," she says. Luckily, the band has returned to the studio to work on a second album, so she won't need to worry about Porta Potties for a little while.

But fans, don't fret: While the band's on break, you can still be part of their lives, literally.

"We're doing this fan interactive. When we're working on the next album, there will be security cameras set up in the house we live in. So fans can log in, pre-order the album, and for the next 24 hours they can see inside the house, in every room," says Rabin.

"It's a way to stay in touch with people who have supported us since the beginning," says Hooper.